Artificial bait.



P; R. WILBBR e BALL. ARTIFICIAL B APILUATION FILED SEPT. 8, 1913.

1,086,256. Patented Feb. 3,1914.

. Ihwentors 'Wi ,Bg y I i F ,afforriegs A To all whom t may 'conce-rn UNITED sTATEs 'PATENT- orfrioa.

FORD R. WILBER AND HORACE E. BALL, OF PAW PAW, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOBS TO THE J MOONLIGHT BAITCOMPANY, OF PAW PAW, MICHIGAN.

ARTIFICIAL BAIT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. e, i914.

Be it known that we, FORD R. 'W1LBER and Hoa-ion E. BALL, citizens of the United States, residing at Paw Paw,4 inthe countyof Van Buren and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial Baits; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention," such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in baits and an object of the invention is to provide a bait of very simple construction which shall have several distinct motions as the bait is drawn through the water, and to provide a bait which mayI also be used as a surface bait whenat rest or when drawn at a moderate rate of speed and be an under water bait when drawn rapidly, the depth of the bait' being dependent upon the rate of drawing. I a I A further object of the invention `is to provide. a bait having an inclined face, shown planate, part of which is normally located beneath the surface of the water so that when the bait moves forward in the direction of the face' the water will act .to drive the bait downwardly.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bait having noauxiliary ballast but having the hooks. so arrangedV as to ykeep the bait in an upright position with a-maximum of surface below water level.

A still further Object of the invention is to provide a bait having an .inclined face, planate or otherwise, with the draft line attached to t-he face below the center of gravity of the bait. v

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides infthe/combinae tion and arrangement of parts as/described and claimed and. as illustrated in the draw- In the drawings, where similar reference characters designate corresponding parts, and wherein the principles of our invention are incorporated in one specific embodiment, Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of the bait; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal-:sec-l tion of the bait, andFig. 3 is a view showing the bait floating in water.

Baits have heretofore been proposed with zupwardlyforwardly extending planate faces which coperatcd with the water/to keep the forward end of the ,bait which usually carl ries a spinner, etc., from descending as the bait is drawn forward, butthe resent invention contemplates the use o a down` wardly forwardly extending face to lower the bait as 'the same is drawn through the water, there being no spinner to support.

Various baits have had counter-weights for ballasting and have been formed to simulate a minnow, whereas the present bait has hooks arranged along the bottom to maintain equilibrium without a counter-weight,

and no particular attempt is made to simulate minnows or the like although this can be done.

A more detailed description is to be had v.by reference to the accompanying drawing,

where 1 designates the body of the bait which is preferably taperedfrom one endto the other to provi-dea large end2 and a small end 3. 'The bait body may be'made of any suitable material and may be provided 4with any desirable color scheme. The larger end of the body isyprovided with a downwardly-forwardly extending face which may be atan angle of 40 approximately with the` horizontal although We do not wish t0 be limited to this angle as others will obviously produce .desirable results.l This face 4" may curved or similar word mayl be substituted,

as long as thel surface thus defined accom` vthe draft line is rst pulled to draw `the 'entire face under water. c

Arranged in a line alongthebottom of the form, a Vhook 5 being located beneath the the. weight is distributed evenly to preserve 85. be planate and it is understood that wherever the'. word planate is used the word largest portion'of the bait, a hook 6 beneath` the central smaller portion, and a hook 7 at g1 '05' equilibrium and thus avoid the use of a counter-weiggghtr The bodyisl made of lightv material so thatthe .hooks 'forni an. effective 10oV body 1 are Several suitable hooks of anyf( y' ballast. By referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the greater part of the Weight of the hooks is carried by the smaller end of the body, from which two of the three hooks depend so that the said smaller end is completely submerged in water Vto display as large a surface to fish as possible. These hooks may have associated therewith such lures as are common in fishing tackle andr are pivoted to swing universally with respect to the body. The rear hooks serve also to weight thesmaller end so that a sudden. for-1 ward movement is accompanied by a downward movement of the planate face and thel angle between the face 4 and the horizontal is increased as the largerend falls below its normal position.

The means for attaching the draft line coin rises an eye hook 8 secured to the lower portlon of the planate face at a point below the normal waterline'. It is very desirable to have the eye hook secured to the face 4 at a point below the center of gravity of the body 1, so that the horizontal pull will be along a line which if'extended would pass below the center of gravity ofthe body 1.

It found that a bait constructed as described, has at least three distinct motions while being drawn through the watert viz, first, a side motion resembling a fsh'swimming in the water, caused by the contact of Athe water with the peculiar shaped head of the bait as it is drawn through. the water. Second, an up and down, or vdanclng motion caused by the action of the water on the hea of the bait, depending on the speed at which the bait is being drawn. through lthe water;

and third, a zig-zag motion caused by the action of the water on the bait as it is being drawn through the water', depending on the float, but by pulling'on the draft line it may -be caused to `plow beneath the surface of the water and ris therefore 'a surface and under water bait.

What weclaim is: 'f

1. A fish bait comprising a body having a forwardly-downwardly extending face, means secured to the face below ahorizontal line passing through the center of gravit-y of the bait for attaching a fish line, and hooks carried by the body.

2. A fish bait comprising a body, means formed thereon adapted to lower the bait as the body is drawn through water; hooks carried by the body, and means located adjacent the forward end of the bait below a horizon tal line passing through the center of gravity of the baitfor securing a fish line.

3.' A bait comprising a body having for-y wardly-downwardly extending means carriedthereby adapted to lower the body as the same is drawn through the water, hooks secured to the bottom of the body, and means for securing a draft line to the bait., said means located below a hrizontalline passing through the center of gravity of the bait.

4. A bait comprising a body the end of which has a forwardly and downwardly inclined face, hooks carried by the body, and means for securing a draft line to the inclined face below a horizontal line passing through the center of gravity of the bait..

5. A bait comprising a body taperingfrom one end to the other, the larger end being provided with a downwardly-forwardly inclined face, hooks secured to the body, and means carried by the face below a horizontal line passing through the center of gravity of the bait adapted to receive a draft line.

In testimony whereof we atiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

FORD n. WILBER. HORACE 1 3. BALL. 

